The Past, Present & Future in Information Management – the next 10 years

In a recent survey conducted by LexisNexis, we asked 500 people working in information services how they felt their role had changed since the digital revolution. This blog is the last in our series where we contemplate the findings from the survey. Here we review what information managers see themselves doing in the years up to 2024.

In the previous three posts drawn from the findings of our survey, we have heard how information managers have tracked their evolution up to the present day. The role has evolved - and continues to evolve - with a common theme that there is now more pressure than ever to prove value to the business. So what does the information professional believe they need to do to respond? What will happen in the next 10 years?

Technology and automation

Presentation and visualisation of information will play a key role in the future. Information managers will need the ability to quickly synthesise and analyse information. Volumes and sources are anticipated to increase and so will information overload. Therefore it is vital that information managers find a way to bring data under control, and to validate that information more rapidly. The selection process is no easy task – but this is where technology and automation have been identified as becoming significantly important.

What kind of technological advances have been identified for the future? Our participants expect technological advances in the fields of voice operated search functions. Participants would find the following three technological advances very useful too:

- automatic cross validation of information

- spontaneous creation of useful documents

- automated translation

The net result of this greater automation will be more time to add value – analysing the data and creating actionable insight on which to base accurate business decisions.

The information manager is going nowhere

Of course technology can only deliver so much. There is a strong people element here too. The survey found initial briefings from executives posed real challenges at the front-end that led to less accurate results. A clear frame of reference will be essential to allow information managers to identify and accurately query the most appropriate data.

Communications skills will become vital to support colleagues who may not always have the skills or the experience to interpret the data, resulting in a higher profile for the information professional within the organisation. Demonstrating the benefits of the information manager role to the company will be less challenging in the future.

By bringing together the skillset – or roots - of the information manager with emerging technological advances, the opportunity to become a highly valued and skilled member of the organisation becomes a reality. Continually emerging opportunities will propel the prepared professional into territories of advanced information retrieval; interpretation, synthesis, product development and virtual services. For our respondents, the future looks promising.

Click here to download a copy of the Past, Present & Future of Information Management report.

Share this post?

What do you think?

Name *

Email *

Message *

Name *Message *

LexisNexis Business Insight Solutions offers a suite of risk, research and reputation solutions that help power your business decisions.